- A level 2 gank from Lee Sin gets first blood on Crumbzz's Irelia
- An excellent grab from Patoy followed up by an Udyr flash+stun give Qtpie a kill on Cain
- MaKNooN 1v1s and kills Crumbzz at around 6:30. Cornered after the kill, with Scarra and Dominate closing in on him, he ults bottom and gets another kill onto Qtpie.
- Scarra and Dominate gank bot at 9 minutes, killing Patoy, although Qtpie almost dies in the process.
- A three-man gank involving Shen ult kills Scarra in mid - meanwhile, Patoy and Imaqtpie kill the enemy bottom lane, but lose Qtpie when Watch comes back down bottom.
- Watch solos dragon at 14 minutes.
- Najin 3-man ganks mid, but fails to kill Scarra. At the same time, Dignitas 3-man ganks bottom, but botches it and loses Qtpie. Najin then picks up a kill on Patoy.
- A skirmish near blue buff seems to disengage, but when Qtpie snipes SSONG into his egg form, Dignitas follows up and gets Scarra two kills.
- Najin picks up an uncontested dragon.
- A great pull at 21 minutes gives Scarra a kill on PraY and gets Dignitas mid turret.
- A facecheck by Baron leads to Patoy getting picked off. A brilliant wall from SSONG cuts off three members of Dignitas and leads to Scarra, Qtpie, and Crumbzz all dying with only MaKNooN falling from Najin.
- After overextending in the bottom lane, I Will Dominate gets picked off by four members of Najin, who take Dragon shortly after.
- A teamfight in middle ends in Najin Sword aceing Dignitas, losing only PraY in the process. They pick up the second middle tower and choose not to press Baron.
- Dignitas pick off MaKNooN and then SSONG after - in a prolonged fight, they also kill Watch and PraY while losing only Crumbzz. They start Baron and Patoy lands a great hook over the wall onto Sona, where the play of the game then happens - MaKNooN ults Sona, drives the entirety of Dignitas away from Baron, and kills Udyr in the process.
- Dignitas rush Baron at 33 minutes and pick it up, but Najin Sword is right on them and win the teamfight 4-1, picking up mid tower and inhib.
- Scarra is cornered in top lane at 36 minutes and gets picked off by four members of Najin. Meanwhile, MaKNooN lands a solo kill on Dominate, who is trying to split push.
- Najin push in to top tower and kill Crumbzz, but lose PraY. MaKNooN picks up another tower bottom and ults into the fight, killing Patoy and Dominate while saving Cain and Watch with just a sliver of health each. They get top inhib 38 minutes in.
- Najin trade SSONG for Scarra and Dominate and push in again, taking top and mid inhibs again.
- An engage by blue buff at 40 minutes ends in a 4-0 exchange in Najin's favor.
- NAJIN SWORD WIN AT 41 MINUTES

Game Notes
- Crumbzz's Irelia was simply not up to par this game, especially compared to how other players have performed on her earlier today. He was level 5 when MaKNooN was level 8, as that level 1 death from Lee Sin put him so far behind. Whether it was because of MaKNooN's stellar Shen play, or simply because Crumbzz's Irelia is simply not as honed as that of Wickd's, top lane was a consistent weak point throughout all of early and mid-game, giving Shen free reign to ult and gank.
- MaKNooN's Shen was the playmaker this game, ulting to gank all throughout the mid-game and stopping what was a guaranteed Baron for Dignitas with an excellent ulti onto Sona. He peeled, CCd, saved lives, and did massive damage, showing why MaKNooN is feared for his Shen play and for his top lane mechanics in general. MaKNooN went legendary this game.

Worlds Championship Update - Group B End
Najin Sword and Counter Logic Gaming EU, the favorites in their group, took decisive victories today, and will be advancing to the quarterfinals to face Taipei Assassins and World Elite, respectively. Similar to Thorns, here are some thoughts I have on the group B teams.

Najin Sword
Najin Sword asserted their dominance today - their team, built around the deadly machine that is MaKNooN, drove their namesake through Saigon, Dignitas, and one of the crowd favorites, CLG.eu. Undefeated in their group, MaKNooN was the clear MVP for all three games, with his Jayce dominating against Saigon and his Shen going legendary against Dignitas. Najin will face Taipei Assassins in the quarterfinals.

Counter Logic Gaming EU
CLG.eu went 2-1, having an extremely weak performance against Najin, but playing very well in their other two games (in which, notably, Wickd played Irelia). Froggen was the most consistently good out of CLG's roster, farming incredibly well all three games. In each of their matches, they went for a late-game team composition, losing to Najin heavily in the mid-game but decisively beating Saigon and Dignitas. CLG.eu will face World Elite in the quarterfinals, a matchup that should be interesting and will probably be centered around whether Yellowpete and Krepo can stand up to the killing machine that is WeiXiao, and what Froggen can do to help them - beware, though, as Misaya is just as formidable of a force in the middle lane.

Saigon Jokers
The Jokers are a good team, but were unable to stand up to the might of the top lane terrors that are MaKNooN and Wickd. In both games, the top lane was a notably weak spot in both games, with both MaKNooN on Jayce and Wickd on Irelia making incredible plays that gave Najin and CLG.eu their respective games. Their game against Dignitas showed a little of their strength as a team, with Junie's Leona and Violet's Malphite playing very well and coordinating almost pefectly - unfortunately, it wasn't enough to get them past the group stage.

Team Dignitas
Dignitas had an overwhelmingly disappointing run this tournament, and each time, the game was lost in a specific location, for a specific reason. Against CLG.eu, Crumbzz botched an early aggression attempt and fell too far behind Wickd's Irelia to be able to keep up. Against Saigon, Scarra's Katarina pick completely backfired as Archie and Junie on Ezreal and Leona completely shut down his farm and made him near-useless late-game. Against Najin, Crumbzz's Irelia was unable to stand up to the might of MaKNooN's Shen, who made plays all around the map and crushed this former North American titan. Dignitas's performance was disappointing, but not unexpected.

World Elitevs Counter Logic Gaming EuropeThis match could really go either way. The two teams are almost exactly the same in terms of playstyle - they love lategame, and their mid laners have a massive presence throughout the game. World Elite, for a while, was considered the iconic Chinese team in terms of playstyle, but CLG.EU have mirrored their style and improved on it, being able to topple beasts such as Najin Sword, Moscow Five and Taipei Assassins through a very methodical, position-oriented playstyle. I believe that the deciding factor in this match will be how far each team is willing to go in terms of innovation. Two passive teams facing off will bring back memories of the Season 1 Championship, in which Counter Logic Gaming and eventual victors Fnatic traded blow for blow in slow poke wars. But in this situation, WE and CLG have much more than poke. It will be an exciting match for sure, but I think CLG has the edge.

Moscow Five vs Invictus GamingTo my knowledge, these teams will be facing off against each other for the first time. iG will still be rattled after a less-than-ideal performance in the group stage. Moscow Five is a very disciplined team, not one to throw away a game to a lesser team. However, iG did not show us any of the innovative tactics that they are famed for in China. It is very likely that we will see something unusual out of illuSioN's men in this match, as M5 are the favourites for the tournament. Neither team will pull any punches. If M5 are to win, it will be through intelligent adaptation and holding their ground. I do not expect Alex Ich to show us the cheese he has so lovingly crafted in this match.

Team SoloMid vs Azubu FrostFrost will be facing off against TSM, somewhat disgruntled that they had to dispose of three teams in the group stage before facing off against the well rested, prepared TSM. However, TSM failed to beat Frost's brother team back in San Francisco, and have since not had very much success against Korean teams. Both teams are considered to be quite aggressive early, with TSM exuding a controlled, objective-focused playstyle whereas Frost will do almost anything to take an early advantage, even sacrificing kills or objectives. While I believe that Frost has the overall advantage in this match, TSM's superior bot lane play might be able to hold out against the aggressive Korean team.

Taipei Assassins vs Najin SwordThis match will be interesting, to say the least. Both teams are very creative with their team compositions. Alongside iG, TPA is possibly the most versatile team in this competition. They are a well-oiled machine, whereas Sword showed signs of weakness in the group stage despite taking it 3-0. Sword cannot afford to make the same blunders they made against Dignitas and Saigon, lest they be overrun by Taiwan's champions. If both teams are playing to their best, I believe that Najin Sword should take this match. However, nothing ever goes to plan, and TPA are not going down without a fight.

tbh i think we'll see some more kog picks - teams seem to have trouble properly diving and then finishing kog - once he flashes he either gets his peel or he kills whoever dove him. whatever team has kog will have him carry hard and win if peeled right.

graves seems to be less popular unless ezreal is banned (and rightfully so, 5second aspd debuff lolololol), but we have seen miss fortune, caitlyn and tristana make appearances (1 each) as well as several sivir+draven bans.

i'm still waiting for the actual cheese - beyond triple teleport everything has been very standard summ spells/team comps, well, there was the duo lane mid stuff but no surprise champ picks beyond MF.

my predictions:CLG.EUM5FrostSword

I really don't expect M5 to get cheesed out or outplayed this early, I feel like Sword are a stronger team if they don't make stupid decisions and throw (in a game vs Blaze, Malphite ulted in when Diana was out of range to hit Kog/Ori with Q and so Ori lived long enough to ult and win the fight), I think CLG.EU will be consistent enough they come through vs World Elite but maybe not, I'm least sure on this one, and TSM is going to realize practicing vs the bad NA teams all the time with the same old safe picks isn't cutting it, unless they have a new strat like Kayle+Karthus back when it was new that will catch Frost by surprise.

- illuSioN picks up first blood in a 3 man gank on Darien off a lane swap, which Diamond couldn't prevent despite his countergank efforts
- zz1tai Flashes for a solo kill on Alex Ich's Evelynn
- M5 takes a contested dragon at 9 minutes, nearly losing Diamond in the process but no blood is spilled due to a nice ward-Safeguard combo
- Alex Ich runs through top lane to gank Kid and XiaoXiao, to be met with a Shen ultimate, but Diamond is also there, and the three Russians collapse on XiaoXiao and illuSioN, walking away with no deaths
- M5 take a dragon at 15 minutes, but iG are there to chase them as they retreat, killing all but Darien and losing nobody
- Kid takes the first bottom tower at 16 minutes- An engagement between the AD/Support combos at top trades Pepper for Kid, but Alex Ich swoops in to secure a kill on XiaoXiao. Meanwhile in the M5 jungle, Diamond and Darien collapse on Pdd and take him out
- M5 engage on iG in the mid lane as illuSioN's ultimate is down, trading four for four, with Alex Ich getting a triple kill and escaping safely
- Diamond Smite steals the dragon away from iG at 21 minutes, and in the following engagement, M5 ace iG with Alex Ich and Genja remaining alive
- A botched engagement in the mid lane by Darien gives iG an ace, losing only Pdd and zz1tai from amazing kiting by Kid
- By 26 minutes, M5's outer towers are down, while iG loses their middle and bottom outer towers
- An amazing initiation by Darien and Pepper hands M5 four kills and Baron at 28 minutes, with illuSioN unable to steal
- Dragon is then easily taken by M5 at 29 minutes- M5 finish iG's top tower at 31 minutes
- M5 dives four towers to kill everyone but Kid and illuSioN, with Darien falling to the fountain laser
- MOSCOW FIVE WINS BY SURRENDER AT 33 MINUTES

Game Notes- Moscow Five's hard initiation comp was able to punch through iG's Yorick comp and burst down important targets
- Alex Ich was mostly unhindered outside of the laning phase as AP Evelynn, giving iG too many threats to deal with
- iG's impressive early play was undone by impressive game sense by Diamond, who was able to turn around risky engagements by iG
- XiaoXiao was again unimpressive on Leona

- Darien is caught in an iG invasion and killed promptly for first blood
- illuSioN steals away Diamond's blue while Diamond works with Pepper to take illuSioN's blue
- Alex Ich zones off illuSioN while Diamond runs top for a secure gank on XiaoXiao
- Diamond ganks zz1tai twice in succession, burning his flash and then setting him up for an Alex Ich kill while illuSioN fails a top gank
- M5 loses Diamond in an invade on iG's blue, while Pdd kills Darien solo
- zz1tai returns to mid lane and kills Alex Ich solo, getting his blue back
- M5 takes a three man, uncontested dragon at 10 minutes- Pdd pushes down M5's bottom tower at 10 minutes- illuSioN saves Pdd as he is ganked, and the two kill Darien and Diamond with Pdd mere points from death
- Pdd is caught again without illuSioN's ultimate, but illuSioN and zz1tai are in the vicinity anyway, allowing for two close kills on Diamond and Darien once again
- iG dive and kill Genja, taking his top tower at 16 minutes- Pdd baits M5 into a poor engagement, but the Russians turn it around to kill everyone but Kid and then a 17 minute dragon is taken
- M5 dive and kill Pdd, while iG kill a retreating Pepper
- iG botch an engagement on M5's mid tower, killing all but illuSioN and giving M5 an easy 23 minute Baron, as Alex Ich chases down and finally kills illuSioN
- M5 take a 24 minute dragon
- M5 finally take mid tower at 26 minutes, killing XiaoXiao and taking a second mid tower soon after
- zz1tai, Kid and XiaoXiao die, only killing Diamond in the process
- iG finish off M5's mid tower at 28 minutes- M5 score an ace and a bot tower at 29 minutes- MOSCOW FIVE WIN BY SURRENDER AT 30 MINUTES

Game Notes- The game was a repeat of the last, with iG taking a lead early but giving up small advantages here and there to M5, which accumulated and turned around in the lategame where the teamfight-superior Russians won easily
- illuSioN didn't build Wriggles, which affected iG's objective control and late in the game, made his ultimates less useful as a saving tool for Pdd
- Genja was rarely threatened - on top of his Mercury's Treads and Alex Ich's Chronoshift, it allowed him to do a lot of damage through the game
- Pepper's ultimate was used to set up Dragon's Rage and put zz1tai and Kid out of position in every teamfight

- Watch steals Lilballz's red buff at level 1 while Lilballz in turn takes Watch's red buff at level 3.
- An aggressive cleaver + Flash with red buff from Lilballz gives Toyz first blood on SSONG.
- Nunu ult bottom trades Bebe for Cain at around 9 minutes.
- A three-man gank top in which three Flashes are blown kills Stanley at 11 minutes.
- TPA invade blue buff, Toyz gets a double kill while losing Lilballz.
- Free dragon for TPA at 14:45.
- MaKNooN takes top tower at around the same time.
- Toyz lands a solo kill on SSONG at around 15 minutes.
- TPA steal Najin's blue at around 19 minutes.
- TPA take out bottom turret at 22 minutes.
- TPA have an excellent teamfight at 24 minutes, taking out MaKNooN extremely quickly and killing three while losing none.
- TPA take a free Baron at 24:50.
- Stanley's Q followed by an excellent ultimate from Toyz end up in a fight that aces Najin with no casualties from Taipei.
- TAIPEI ASSASSINS WIN BY SURRENDER AT 26 MINUTES

Game Notes
- Toyz was easily the MVP for this match, landing near-perfect ultimates every single fight, farming extremely well, outlaning SSONG, and getting kills all throughout the midgame.
- Taipei showed how to play against a MaKNooN-centric team, making sure he didn't get fed while winning in mid and bot.
- Stanley's play in particular must be lauded, as he died only once to MaKNooN in a three-man dive and controlled his lane well enough to stop MaKNooN from having free reign over the rest of the map.

- MiSTaKe lands a pull on Najin's blue buff and invades after, stealing Najin's blue and forcing Watch to start red with almost no mana.
- Lilballz ganks bottom for Stanley, who is 1v2ing, but Watch counterganks and trade first blood on Cain for kills on Lilballz and Stanley (although PraY dies to tower).
- Stanley rushes a Kage's Lucky Pick.
- Najin pick up bottom tower.
- A gank from SSONG kills Stanley as he was pushed back to his second tower at around 11 minutes.
- MiSTaKe hooks PraY, and Stanley follows up with an ultimate to kill PraY at 12 minutes.
- PraY and Cain turn around a Blitz hook in top lane, killing bebeisadog. MaKNoon runs up and cleans up MiSTaKe at 15 minutes.
- Najin pick up an uncontested 16 minute dragon while TPA take out top turret.
- Lilballz steals SSONG's blue buff.
- MaKNooN gets a solo kill on Stanley in bottom lane
- SSONG gets caught out by TPA's blue buff and the following fight takes out MaKNooN and Watch with only Lilballz dying.
- MiSTaKe pulls MaKNooN, but it backfires and Najin take out three members of TPA without losing anyone.
- Stanley kills MaKNooN in a 1v1 at 21 minutes, then ults mid to help MiSTaKe, getting kills on Watch and SSONG while losing only MiSTaKe.
- Bebe snipes SSONG's blue with his ultimate at 27 minutes.
- TPA rush for Najin's second bottom turret while Najin rushes down TPA's mid lane in what seemed to be a base race, but Najin recalled after taking out the first turret.
- TPA take out dragon at 29 minutes, to which Najin responds by attempting a Baron which is aborted.
- MiSTaKe lands a brilliant pull on MaKNooN; the teamfight gives TPA kills on SSONG and PraY.
- TPA attempt a 30 minute Baron but turn around as MiSTaKe lands another great pull on MaKNooN, ultimately killing him.
- A Lilballz ulti on MaKNooN leads to the final teamfight of the game, where Taipei aces Najin, losing only one person.
- TAIPEI ASSASSINS WIN BY SURRENDER AT 35 MINUTES

Game Notes
- Despite being down kills, a tower, and a dragon for much of mid-game, TPA stayed either even or ahead in the overall gold count because of the extra GP10 on Stanley and the superior farming of Toyz.
- Just like in game one, Taipei won by shutting down MaKNooN. The early 1v2 stopped him from farming early on, and all throughout mid and late-game, a combination of Blitzcrank pulls and Skarner ultimates either left MaKNooN's Jax too weak to contribute or just dead outright.
- Toyz shone this game, placing excellent walls that had amazing synergy with MiSTaKe's pulls. TPA showed excellent positioning and coordination through the entire game, despite being down several kills early on.

- Both teams begin by taking each other's red buffs
- Dyrus is ganked by RapidStar and CloudTemplar in the top lane for first blood
- MadLife hooks Xpecial into tower and the two chase Xpecial down and kill him, but Requiem and TheOddOne's running into bottom lane cleans up MadLife and Woong
- CloudTemplar ganks bottom lane from the lane brush, cleaning up Xpecial and handing Frost a 10 minute dragon
- Shy grabs a solo kill on Dyrus
- Shy grabs another solo kill on Dyrus
- Reginald comes within points of killing Shy, but is forced to disengage and so his blue buff is taken away by CloudTemplar and RapidStar
- Shy runs bottom to take a 16 minute dragon with his team, while TheOddOne and Dyrus take Frost's top tower
- TSM's bottom tower is then taken at 16 minutes- Frost group mid and drop TSM's tower at 18 minutes- Shy and Woong are caught and killed, while RapidStar snipes Chaox
- Frost poke down TSM's inner middle tower at 22 minutes- Shy and Woong are chased down in a botched poke attempt
- Frost clean up dragon at 24 minutes- Frost poke down TSM's inner bottom tower at 27 minutes- RapidStar is caught by Dyrus and TSM collapses on him
- TSM take Baron at 29 minutes while Frost take two towers and an inhibitor while losing Woong
- Frost kills every member of TSM bar Dyrus in an extended chase after MadLife dies in a teamfight
- Frost takes a 31 minute inhibitor and move on to take TSM's inner top tower at 32 minutes before taking Reginald's blue buff and recalling
- Frost pick up dragon at 33 minutes- Frost take TSM's final non-Nexus turret at 34 minutes, then destroy the respawned mid inhibitor
- Frost trade Shy and Woong for Reginald and Xpecial as they destroy TSM's final inhibitor
- Frost take an uncontested Baron at 38 minutes- TSM is aced at their Nexus
- AZUBU FROST WIN IN 40 MINUTES

Game Notes- A complete domination of Dyrus in lane made him largely ineffective throughout the game, though some nice Flash Apprehends held off Frost's pushes
- Chaox played a good game, but was killed far too easily with the superior CC of Frost
- Frost's poke allowed them to dictate the flow of the game, denying TSM many potential initiations
- The gold gap only increased as the game progressed as Frost denied TSM creeps by grouping in one lane and forcing TSM's attention

- MadLife is hooked by Xpecial and killed by TheOddOne for first blood after a prolonged blue fight
- TSM take an early turret at 6 minutes- CloudTemplar is ambushed at his wraith camp and killed by 3 members of TSM
- TSM group for a 7 minute dragon
- RapidStar is jumped by Dyrus and Reginald in the middle lane and killed despite CloudTemplar's efforts
- Rocket Grab sets up a Requiem kill on MadLife
- TheOddOne ganks bottom lane, but CloudTemplar is ready to counter and Frost picks up kills on Chaox and TheOddOne
- Frost take out TSM's bottom tower at 14 minutes- Frost take a 15 minute dragon, giving up their middle tower
- Dyrus is killed top by CloudTemplar and Shy, as RapidStar is caught and killed bottom. Frost respond by killing TheOddOne, and Shy chases down Reginald, but Requiem takes him out
- CloudTemplar and Woong ambush and kill an overextended Chaox
- Shy and CloudTemplar take out TSM's top tower at 21 minutes- TSM takes dragon at 23 minutes- TSM initiate a teamfight, but Frost trades RapidStar for every TSM member bar TheOddOne
- Frost secure a 24 minute Baron
- Frost take out TSM's inner bottom tower at 27 minutes- Shy takes out TSM's top tower at 27 minutes as CloudTemplar is caught and killed
- TSM engage 5v4, losing Dyrus, Reginald and Chaox for MadLife. Shy and RapidStar chase down TheOddOne, but Xpecial hooks RapidStar into the tower and kills him
- Frost takes TSM's middle tower and dragon at 29 minutes
- Frost ace TSM at their middle inhibitor
- AZUBU FROST WINS IN 32 MINUTES

Game Notes- TSM got off to an amazing start, pressuring Frost all around the map
- Frost broke TSM's momentum as CloudTemplar and Shy started getting farm, converting the gold into kills and pressure across the map
- Dyrus had another disappointing performance, not having much of an impact at all - it seems like TSM only picked Jayce to take him away from Shy
- TSM failed to pressure Woong in proper teamfights - all of his deaths were from being out of position